The EFF is a better political party to form a coalition with, compared with the DA. These are the sentiments of ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba, who commends his relationship with the red berets in fighting corruption.
“The EFF has never objected to me firing a corrupt member, however, my former party [the DA] led me to resign for firing a corrupt member,” the politician explained.
READ: Coalitions: DA fights to keep ANC out in the cold
Mashaba was speaking at a briefing on Tuesday, where the party outlined its coalition negotiations. Mashaba worked with the EFF during his tenure as Johannesburg mayor and as part of a coalition between the EFF and his former political home, the DA.
His new party gained kingmaker status in Gauteng during the 2021 local government elections and has insisted that it would only have talks with parties that shared its values.
In its maiden election, the party received over 9% of the votes in Gauteng. Although Mashaba said nothing was finalised, he affirmed his decision not to work with the ANC.
He said:
The ActionSA leader says he’s proven beyond reasonable doubt that his party is the only one capable of unseating the ANC. “The ANC is a problem. People of South Africa have spoken loudly. They have rejected the ANC. For us to bring them back through the back door would be criminal or evil.
READ: Mashaba will not call the ANC, not even in 300 years, as he rejects coalition approaches
“If we are not able to find coalition partners that are happy to work with us and serve South Africans, we are happy to be on the opposition benches,” he said, adding that he was ready to serve as a councillor.
ActionSA became the third largest party in the Johannesburg council, with 44 seats.
The ANC, however, doesn’t appear fazed by ActionSA’s stance. President Cyril Ramaphosa said the party, although wounded, was still not ready to compromise and enter coalitions just for the sake of it.
READ: Tebogo Khaas | ANC’S wake-up call – but not a death sentence
“I have been hearing parties saying they will not go into coalition with the ANC and that made me wonder, who said the ANC wants to get into partnerships with them,” he asked.
Ramaphosa’s remarks were made during an ANC post-election event in Soweto on Monday, where the possibility of election reruns existed in hung municipalities if coalition negotiations were unsuccessful.
Election re-run?
On Tuesday, with fewer than two weeks for parties to form coalition governments in 66 hung councils, ActionSA challenged Ramaphosa, saying it was confident it would defeat the ANC at the polls if South Africans were to vote again. However, he cautioned that citizens stood to suffer if there was a possibility of a rerun.
He said:
ActionSA’s John Moodey said they had reservations about the EFF’s proposal. “As a team, we have some very serious reservations about the pitch that was forwarded to us yesterday. Last night we received an electronic version of the proposed delivery pact with us and, after this meeting, together as a team, we will be going through the document with a fine-tooth comb.”
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